Report Reveals Major Infrastructure Issues at NASA

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NASA Faces Critical Choices Amid Budget Constraints

WASHINGTON — A new report finds that NASA must soon make difficult decisions regarding its missions unless it receives a substantial budget increase. The “NASA at a Crossroads” report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, released Sept. 10, urges the administration and Congress to reinvest in NASA’s infrastructure and provide better long-term planning.

“NASA stands at a crossroads,” the report states. “The critical capabilities the agency provides are eroding and will be lost if trends are not reversed.”

Key issues highlighted include infrastructure, workforce, and technology development. Challenges range from attracting skilled workers to aging facilities that are “some of the worst the committee has ever seen.” The report also cites a lack of long-term planning for technology and infrastructure investments.

Budget pressures have forced NASA to prioritize specific missions over mission support, reducing its mission support budget from 20% in 2013 to 14% in 2023. Norm Augustine, retired chairman and CEO of Lockheed Martin, and chair of the committee, stated in a Sept. 10 webinar, “NASA’s solution has been to underinvest in infrastructure. That tactic has run out of gas.”

“This is not a time for business as usual,” he concluded. “NASA truly is at a crossroads.”

The committee offered eight core recommendations, including increasing NASA’s mission support funding and improving long-term planning. It also suggested creating a “working capital fund” for NASA infrastructure and enhancing human capital strategies.

Augustine noted two key recommendations: invest more in mission support and reevaluate how NASA manages missions, emphasizing the necessary balance between NASA Headquarters and field centers. He admitted that cutting other projects to fund infrastructure would be "really painful."

The committee briefed NASA leadership before the public release. “Their response has been very encouraging,” Augustine said. He also mentioned briefing some congressional staff and expects to testify at future hearings.

Despite the warnings, Augustine remains optimistic about NASA’s future, partly due to the agency’s initial positive response. “NASA is not going to have much of a choice,” he added.

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